1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electric apparatus and, in particular, to an electric apparatus that comprises an accepting unit having a display part and accepting an instruction, and a main unit for performing an operation in accordance with the instruction, and displays a situation of the main unit on the display part.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, it is well known for an electric apparatus such as copy machine, facsimile machine, printer, multi-function machine, or the like, to be provided a display unit and a control panel on the upper surface at the front side; the display unit can display information for, e.g. a situation of the apparatus, operation situation, malfunction, procedure to solve the malfunction, or the like; and the control panel has keys to operate the electric apparatus.
However, it has a problem that a user should be around the electric apparatus to see the displayed information on the display unit or to operate the electric apparatus through the control panel, because the display unit and the control panel are arranged on the upper surface of the electric apparatus and at the front side of the electric apparatus. Thus, it is hard for e.g. a user in a wheelchair, a repair man, a maintenance man or the like, to see the display unit and handle the control panel.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-94764 discloses an image forming apparatus including a main unit and a control panel. In view of such a problem, the control panel of the image forming apparatus is configured to have a display part and to be removable from the main unit. When the control panel is removed from the main unit, the display part shows only some information of what the display part has shown before the control panel is removed. In addition, when the control panel is removed from the main unit, the control panel accepts a handwriting input to operate the image forming apparatus. Those configurations are suggested to provide an image forming apparatus for a user in a wheelchair, a user whose sight line is lower than the control panel, an aged user with reduced power of vision.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-231675 discloses an image forming device including a main unit, a control unit, and a receiving unit. The control unit of the image forming device is configured to have a display part and a wire with a predetermined length. While the wire is connected to the main unit, the control unit is removable from the main unit. The receiving unit is fixed to the main unit, and receives position information of the control unit. Those configurations are suggested to provide an image forming device to guide a user, when the image forming device malfunctions, into an occurred site of the malfunction for solving the malfunctions while checking display on the control unit.